I began listening to podcasts this year and now I'm kind of obsessed. I usually listen to episodes while pushing the kiddo around in a stroller to the park or swim class.

I mostly listen to writing related podcasts — more on those some other time — but for today I'm sharing some podcast episodes discussing Puerto Rico.

I've included both recent episodes discussing the current state of affairs on the island and a few from last fall discussing the immediate aftermath of Hurricane María. Under each link are excerpts from the show notes (in italics).

From the Show Notes: Composer and playwright Lin-Manuel Miranda has written and recorded a new song to help raise money for hurricane recovery efforts in Puerto Rico. Sales of the track, "Almost Like Praying," will go to the Hispanic Federation's Hurricane Relief Fund. It features an all-star cast of Latinx artists, including Jenifer Lopez, Marc Anthony, Gloria Estefan, Fat Joe, Ruben Blades, Luis Fonsi, Rita Moreno and many others. In a conversation with NPR Music's Felix Contreras, Miranda explains why he chose to sing the song in Spanish, how he assembled the vast cast of contributors and why he borrowed the song's title and instantly recognizable hook from a line in the West Side Story classic, "Maria."

Latino Rebels Radio

Latino Rebels Radio has done an excellent job covering Puerto Rico and Hurricane María and its aftermath. Here’s an episode recorded shortly after the Hurricane covering an on-the-ground account, and three more recent episodes discussing the death count in Puerto Rico:

From the Show Notes: We did a quick recording with San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulín Cruz on Wednesday morning to talk about the new Harvard study which said that the death count in Puerto Rico due to Hurricane María is more than 70 times the official government number of 64 deaths, which would result in a death count of over 4,600 lives.

From the Show Notes: With news of a Harvard School of Public Health study estimating that there were close to 5,000 excess deaths in Puerto Rico after Hurricane María, we wanted to talk with Alexis Santos Lozada, a Penn State assistant professor who was one of the first researchers to explore the death count last year, months before the Harvard study.

From the Show Notes: ASPEN, COLORADO — Talking with Latino Rebels Tuesday morning during the Aspen Ideas Festival, Puerto Rico governor Ricardo Rosselló said he was open to supporting any calls by Congress to establish an independent commission that would study how deaths were counted in Puerto Rico after Hurricane María.

Puestos Pa’l Problema

If you understand Spanish — especially the rapid-fire Boricua flavor — you might appreciate this local podcast.

In these two episodes, recorded in Puerto Rico just weeks after Hurricane María, the hosts discuss the immediate aftermath of Hurricanes Irma and María as they experienced them on the island.

While there’s some political inside baseball that as a mainland Boricua I fully admit I can’t always follow (Puerto Rican island politics is its own beast), I appreciated these frank discussions.

Full Disclosure: NSFW. These guys have no problem using curses, PR slang, and other “colorful” language, which might not be everyone’s cup of tea — you’ve been warned.

NPR: Latino USA

From the Show Notes: Puerto Ricans are still rebuilding after Hurricane María devastated the island and its infrastructure last September. Since then, most of the focus has been on the effects of the Hurricane. Nonetheless, in some ways, the bigger story when it comes to Puerto Rico’s future is the island’s economic crisis.

In part one of a two-part series produced in collaboration with WNYC, business reporter Jane Sasseen looks at how Puerto Rico became mired in billions of dollars worth of debt, how it’s affecting Puerto Ricans today, and what the commonwealth is doing to try to dig itself out of a bankruptcy so big and so sprawling that it makes other historic bankruptcies, like Detroit’s, look small by comparison.

From the Show Notes: While Puerto Ricans are still recovering from the destruction left by Hurricane María last September, a financial storm continues to take a toll on people on the island. An 11-year recession has led to austerity measures that threaten to slash budgets for resources like education, and to increase the cost of tuition for the public university.

In the second of a two-part series produced in collaboration with WNYC,Latino USAlooks at how the proposed budget cuts are already changing the lives of Puerto Ricans. We follow Gabriel Negrón, an 18-year-old economics student at the University of Puerto Rico while he fights back against the austerity measures, some of which could determine whether or not he stays in Puerto Rico, or like many others, decides to move to the mainland.

Why is this Happening? with Chris Hayes

Destruction in Puerto Rico with Naomi KleinJune 19, 2018​​From the Show Notes: How did Hurricane Maria evolve from a natural disaster into a human catastrophe in Puerto Rico? While the official death count remains at 64, a Harvard study suggests thousands were killed. While the hurricane left its devastating mark on the island, there were already destructive forces at work long before the storm made landfall. Forces that made Puerto Rico uniquely vulnerable to the ravaging effects of the storm and its aftermath.

So when did the problems in Puerto Rico start? And how did they manifest in the lead up and aftermath of Hurricane Maria? Naomi Klein says that to understand what happened you need to go way back before the storm. She explains how Hurricane Maria acted as an accelerant to a process long underway and that could continue to get worse as Puerto Rico tries to pick up the pieces.

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